diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b80477f7fc..d55b136a86 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -257,6 +257,14 @@ TARGET_DIR:=$(BASE_DIR)/target
 TOOLCHAIN_DIR=$(BASE_DIR)/toolchain
 TARGET_SKELETON=$(TOPDIR)/fs/skeleton
 
+LEGAL_INFO_DIR=$(BASE_DIR)/legal-info
+REDIST_SOURCES_DIR=$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)/sources
+LICENSE_FILES_DIR=$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)/licenses
+LEGAL_MANIFEST_CSV=$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)/manifest.csv
+LEGAL_LICENSES_TXT=$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)/licenses.txt
+LEGAL_WARNINGS=$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)/.warnings
+LEGAL_REPORT=$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)/README
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_CCACHE),y)
 CCACHE:=$(HOST_DIR)/usr/bin/ccache
 BUILDROOT_CACHE_DIR = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_CCACHE_DIR))
@@ -338,6 +346,9 @@ HOST_DEPS = $(sort $(foreach dep,\
 		$($(dep))))
 HOST_SOURCE += $(addsuffix -source,$(sort $(TARGETS_HOST_DEPS) $(HOST_DEPS)))
 
+TARGETS_LEGAL_INFO:=$(patsubst %,%-legal-info,\
+		$(TARGETS) $(BASE_TARGETS) $(TARGETS_HOST_DEPS) $(HOST_DEPS))))
+
 # all targets depend on the crosscompiler and it's prerequisites
 $(TARGETS_ALL): __real_tgt_%: $(BASE_TARGETS) %
 
@@ -354,8 +365,9 @@ prepare: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/auto.conf
 world: prepare dirs dependencies $(BASE_TARGETS) $(TARGETS_ALL)
 
 .PHONY: all world dirs clean distclean source outputmakefile \
+	legal-info legal-info-prepare legal-info-clean \
 	$(BASE_TARGETS) $(TARGETS) $(TARGETS_ALL) \
-	$(TARGETS_CLEAN) $(TARGETS_DIRCLEAN) $(TARGETS_SOURCE) \
+	$(TARGETS_CLEAN) $(TARGETS_DIRCLEAN) $(TARGETS_SOURCE) $(TARGETS_LEGAL_INFO) \
 	$(DL_DIR) $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR) $(BUILD_DIR) $(STAGING_DIR) $(TARGET_DIR) \
 	$(HOST_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(STAMP_DIR)
 
@@ -365,7 +377,7 @@ world: prepare dirs dependencies $(BASE_TARGETS) $(TARGETS_ALL)
 # dependencies anywhere else
 #
 #############################################################
-$(DL_DIR) $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR) $(BUILD_DIR) $(HOST_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(STAMP_DIR):
+$(DL_DIR) $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR) $(BUILD_DIR) $(HOST_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(STAMP_DIR) $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR):
 	@mkdir -p $@
 
 $(STAGING_DIR):
@@ -498,6 +510,28 @@ source: dirs $(TARGETS_SOURCE) $(HOST_SOURCE)
 external-deps:
 	@$(MAKE) -Bs DL_MODE=SHOW_EXTERNAL_DEPS $(EXTRAMAKEARGS) source | sort -u
 
+legal-info-clean:
+	@rm -fr $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)
+
+legal-info-prepare: $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)
+	@$(call MESSAGE,"Collecting legal info")
+	@$(call legal-license-file,buildroot,COPYING,COPYING)
+	@$(call legal-manifest,PACKAGE,VERSION,LICENSE,LICENSE FILES,SOURCE ARCHIVE)
+	@$(call legal-manifest,buildroot,$(BR2_VERSION_FULL),GPLv2+,COPYING,not saved)
+	@$(call legal-warning,the Buildroot source code has not been saved)
+	@$(call legal-warning,the toolchain has not been saved)
+	@cp $(CONFIG_DIR)/.config $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)/buildroot.config
+
+legal-info: dirs legal-info-clean legal-info-prepare $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR) \
+		$(TARGETS_LEGAL_INFO)
+	@cat support/legal-info/README.header >>$(LEGAL_REPORT)
+	@if [ -r $(LEGAL_WARNINGS) ]; then \
+		cat support/legal-info/README.warnings-header \
+			$(LEGAL_WARNINGS) >>$(LEGAL_REPORT); \
+		cat $(LEGAL_WARNINGS); fi
+	@echo "Legal info produced in $(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)"
+	@rm -f $(LEGAL_WARNINGS)
+
 show-targets:
 	@echo $(TARGETS)
 
@@ -619,7 +653,8 @@ endif
 
 clean:
 	rm -rf $(STAGING_DIR) $(TARGET_DIR) $(BINARIES_DIR) $(HOST_DIR) \
-		$(STAMP_DIR) $(BUILD_DIR) $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR) $(BASE_DIR)/staging
+		$(STAMP_DIR) $(BUILD_DIR) $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR) $(BASE_DIR)/staging \
+		$(LEGAL_INFO_DIR)
 
 distclean: clean
 ifeq ($(DL_DIR),$(TOPDIR)/dl)
@@ -687,6 +722,7 @@ endif
 	@echo '  source                 - download all sources needed for offline-build'
 	@echo '  source-check           - check selected packages for valid download URLs'
 	@echo '  external-deps          - list external packages used'
+	@echo '  legal-info             - generate info about license compliance'
 	@echo
 	@echo '  make V=0|1             - 0 => quiet build (default), 1 => verbose build'
 	@echo '  make O=dir             - Locate all output files in "dir", including .config'
diff --git a/package/pkg-gentargets.mk b/package/pkg-gentargets.mk
index 5da9cdc704..51053359ae 100644
--- a/package/pkg-gentargets.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-gentargets.mk
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ define GENTARGETS_INNER
 
 $(2)_TYPE                       =  $(5)
 $(2)_NAME			=  $(1)
+$(2)_RAWNAME			=  $(patsubst host-%,%,$(1))
 
 # Keep the package version that may contain forward slashes in the _DL_VERSION
 # variable, then replace all forward slashes ('/') by underscores ('_') to
@@ -245,6 +246,20 @@ $(2)_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR = $($(2)_SITE)
 endif
 endif
 
+ifndef $(2)_LICENSE
+ ifdef $(3)_LICENSE
+  $(2)_LICENSE = $($(3)_LICENSE)
+ endif
+endif
+
+ifndef $(2)_LICENSE_FILES
+ ifdef $(3)_LICENSE_FILES
+  $(2)_LICENSE_FILES = $($(3)_LICENSE_FILES)
+ endif
+endif
+
+$(2)_LICENSE			?= unknown
+
 $(2)_DEPENDENCIES ?= $(filter-out $(1),$(patsubst host-host-%,host-%,$(addprefix host-,$($(3)_DEPENDENCIES))))
 
 $(2)_INSTALL_STAGING		?= NO
@@ -412,6 +427,52 @@ else
 $(2)_KCONFIG_VAR = BR2_PACKAGE_$(2)
 endif
 
+# legal-info: declare dependencies and set values used later for the manifest
+ifneq ($$($(2)_LICENSE),PROPRIETARY)
+ifneq ($$($(2)_SITE_METHOD),local)
+ifneq ($$($(2)_SITE_METHOD),override)
+# Packages that have a tarball need it downloaded and extracted beforehand
+$(1)-legal-info: $(1)-extract $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR)
+$(2)_MANIFEST_TARBALL = $$($(2)_SOURCE)
+ifneq ($$($(2)_LICENSE_FILES),)
+$(2)_MANIFEST_LICENSE_FILES = $$($(2)_LICENSE_FILES)
+endif
+endif
+endif
+endif
+# defaults for packages without tarball or license files
+$(2)_MANIFEST_TARBALL ?= not saved
+$(2)_MANIFEST_LICENSE_FILES ?= not saved
+
+# legal-info: produce legally relevant info.
+$(1)-legal-info:
+# Packages without a source are assumed to be part of Buildroot, skip them.
+ifneq ($(call qstrip,$$($(2)_SOURCE)),)
+ifeq ($$($(2)_LICENSE),PROPRIETARY)
+# Proprietary packages: nothing to save
+else ifeq ($$($(2)_SITE_METHOD),local)
+# Packages without a tarball: don't save and warn
+	@$(call legal-warning-pkg-savednothing,$$($(2)_RAWNAME),local)
+else ifeq ($$($(2)_SITE_METHOD),override)
+	@$(call legal-warning-pkg-savednothing,$$($(2)_RAWNAME),override)
+else
+# Other packages
+# Save license files if defined
+ifeq ($(call qstrip,$$($(2)_LICENSE_FILES)),)
+	@$(call legal-license-nofiles,$$($(2)_RAWNAME))
+	@$(call legal-warning-pkg,$$($(2)_RAWNAME),cannot save license ($(2)_LICENSE_FILES not defined))
+else
+	@for F in $$($(2)_LICENSE_FILES); do \
+		$(call legal-license-file,$$($(2)_RAWNAME),$$$${F},$$($(2)_DIR)/$$$${F}); \
+		done
+endif
+# Copy the source tarball (just hardlink if possible)
+	@cp -l $(DL_DIR)/$$($(2)_SOURCE) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR) 2>/dev/null || \
+	   cp $(DL_DIR)/$$($(2)_SOURCE) $(REDIST_SOURCES_DIR)
+endif
+	@$(call legal-manifest,$$($(2)_RAWNAME),$$($(2)_VERSION),$$($(2)_LICENSE),$$($(2)_MANIFEST_LICENSE_FILES),$$($(2)_MANIFEST_TARBALL))
+endif # ifneq ($(call qstrip,$$($(2)_SOURCE)),)
+
 # add package to the general list of targets if requested by the buildroot
 # configuration
 ifeq ($$($$($(2)_KCONFIG_VAR)),y)
diff --git a/package/pkg-utils.mk b/package/pkg-utils.mk
index 0c55a9d710..35abb17ce5 100644
--- a/package/pkg-utils.mk
+++ b/package/pkg-utils.mk
@@ -92,3 +92,28 @@ define sep
 
 
 endef
+
+#
+# legal-info helper functions
+#
+LEGAL_INFO_SEPARATOR="::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::"
+legal-warning=echo "WARNING: $(1)" >>$(LEGAL_WARNINGS)
+legal-warning-pkg=echo "WARNING: $(1): $(2)" >>$(LEGAL_WARNINGS)
+define legal-warning-pkg-savednothing # pkg, {local|override}
+	$(call legal-warning-pkg,$(1),sources and license files not saved ($(2) packages not handled))
+endef
+legal-manifest=echo "$(1),$(2),$(3),$(4),$(5)" >>$(LEGAL_MANIFEST_CSV)
+define legal-license-header
+	echo -e "$(LEGAL_INFO_SEPARATOR)\n\t$(1):" \
+		"$(2)\n$(LEGAL_INFO_SEPARATOR)\n\n" >>$(LEGAL_LICENSES_TXT)
+endef
+define legal-license-nofiles
+	$(call legal-license-header,$(1),unknown license file(s))
+endef
+define legal-license-file # pkg, filename, file-fullpath
+	$(call legal-license-header,$(1),$(2) file) && \
+	cat $(3) >>$(LEGAL_LICENSES_TXT) && \
+	echo >>$(LEGAL_LICENSES_TXT) && \
+	mkdir -p $(LICENSE_FILES_DIR)/$(1)/ && \
+	cp $(3) $(LICENSE_FILES_DIR)/$(1)/
+endef
diff --git a/support/legal-info/README.header b/support/legal-info/README.header
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3321adb7ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/support/legal-info/README.header
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+Most of the packages that were used by Buildroot to produce the image files,
+including Buildroot itself, have open-source licenses. It is your
+responsibility to comply to the requirements of these licenses.
+To make this easier for you, Buildroot collected in this directory some
+material you may need to get it done.
+
+This material is composed of the following items.
+ * The scripts used to control compilation of the packages and the generation
+   of image files, i.e. the Buildroot sources.
+   Note: this has not been saved due to technical limitations, you must
+   collect it manually.
+ * The Buildroot configuration file; this has been saved in buildroot.config.
+ * The toolchain (cross-compiler and related tools) used to generate all the
+   compiled programs.
+   Note: this has not been saved due to technical limitations, you must
+   collect it manually.
+ * The source code for all packages; this has been saved in the sources/
+   subdirectory (except for the proprietary packages, which have not been
+   saved); patches applied to some packages by Buildroot are included in the
+   Buildroot sources and were not duplicated in the sources/ subdirectory.
+ * A manifest file listing the configured packages and related information.
+ * The license text of the packages; they have been saved in the licenses/
+   subdirectory.
+
diff --git a/support/legal-info/README.warnings-header b/support/legal-info/README.warnings-header
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd0829069c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/support/legal-info/README.warnings-header
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Due to technical limitations or lack of license definition in the package
+makefile, some of the material listed above could not been saved, as the
+following list details.
+